"Blacken the sky Can't stand to see the sun The truth of light Reveals the hatred that has won" – I Saw The End by Pallbearer

Monthly Archives: October 2017

With their third full length release, Zifir presents you with what seems to be a pretty linear and straight forward approach to black metal. While that certainly is true, the true devilish magic of Kingdom Of Nothingness is what lies beneath the surface. Beyond the sinister sounds of blasting black metal, you are also provided with a hypnotic, enchanting and overall haunting atmosphere and overall sound that is hair raising and skin crawling. Each of the thirteen tracks that are presented on this record are ominous, damning and highly atmospheric.

As mentioned, at first glance, Kingdom Of Nothingness certainly doesn’t seem to be a record that amounts to all that much but in fact it does. Kingdom Of Nothingness is quite a lengthy record as it contains thirteen total tracks of nothing but soul darkening tracks that shroud you in a poisonous and dank fog. As mentioned above, this record certainly does have a certain hypnotic quality about it but that effect doesn’t seem to completely take a hold of you until you get a little deeper in to the record.

The atmosphere that swirls through this release is ritualistic, cold, grim, twisted and all together trance like. As noted above, it takes Zifir some time for them to completely pull you in to their dark and dismal atmosphere, but once they do you sit in a catatonic state listening never wanting to leave your dread filled state of mined. The longer that you listen, you end up getting pulled in deeper and deeper in to the ever growing, never ending darkness that Zifir provides for you.

Other than the bitter atmosphere, you are presented with sharpened riffs and quite frankly one dimensional drumming that is paired with diverse vocals that transition between wicked screams, demonic spoken word and often used chanting vocals. With everything combined from the haunting, soul possessing atmosphere, to the swirling wall of black metallic noise, you are presented with a dark and foreboding record that ultimately is a great listen.

Overall, Kingdom Of Nothingness is a solid release to say the least. This is a lengthy, cohesive and well crafted record that provides you with more than your fair share of death and despair.

Links to follow:

Order all formats ofKingdom Of Nothingness: https://duplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/album/kingdom-of-nothingness

Recently Velvet Thorns had announced a brand new single titled Grisly World from their upcoming six track EP titled In The Name Of Reason. The track Grisly World as well as the rest of the EP pertains to the atrocities that were committed at the mental hospital Colonia in Minas Gerais. With such a dark, true and harrowing concept, one would have to imagine that the music itself would reflect such a horrifying and skin crawling sound, and Velvet Thorns certainly does just that.

If the rest of the EP sounds just like Grisly World does, we are in for a dark, twisted and hair raising treat. Grisly World begins with the chiming of bells coupled with choral singing in the background to provide you with an appropriate amount of foreboding. Once the chiming bells and the choral singing dies down, Velvet Thorns takes off providing you with straight forward drumming, ever buzzing straight ahead riffs that are paired with ghoul like vocals. Among the twisted and malevolent metallic noise is a haunting and ultimately nightmarish atmosphere.

With black metal, doom and experimental metal influences that are paired with a such a grim and haunting atmosphere, you are treated to a hair raising listen. With everything sewn together nicely, Velvet Thorns sets the scene of the grisly horrors that occurred at Colonia mental hospital. The pacing of Grisly World is good, the atmosphere is excellent, the instrumentation is solid, and by just listening to Grisly World it makes you want to hear what Velvet Thorns has left to offer on their upcoming six track EP In The Name Of Reason.

But while we are waiting for the entire EP to appear, we are graced by this wonderfully dark piece to enjoy in the meantime.

Thrashing their way straight out of Moscow and in to your gnarled ear caves is Fallen Nation. Their self titled release came out in August and packs in seven total tracks of old-school fueled thrash metal. The sound is incredibly nostalgic and definitely an homage to the thrash forefathers that came before them. And even with that being the case with Fallen Nation taking the tried and true approach to thrash, this is really well done. There is no inventing the wheel on this record, but what you do get is seven tracks of very solid and well done thrash metal that you ultimately feel the need to bang your head to once you begin listening.

Once that finger of yours lifts off of the play button you are greeted with nothing but sordid and rotten thrash. This release is pure as what you get is thrash metal with nothing else thrown in the mix to potentially make it fly under a different genre. Through seven straight tracks you are provided with well crafted and performed thrash metal that ultimately creates an enjoyable listen.

This self titled release is a wall of energized, crusty and angry thrash metal that you have no issues throwing up the horns for and head banging to. Each track supplies you with searing solos, acrobatic and spastic drumming and rough rugged vocals that tie Fallen Nation’s entire sound together very well. Each of the seven tracks on this record are just as solid as the last. There certainly isn’t a track on this release that is stale and there isn’t one that you would like to or want to skip.

As a whole, this thrashing madhouse of a release is well done and definitely does the thrash genre justice. As mentioned above, this release isn’t something that reinvents anything, but it does thrash metal more than enough justice as it provides you with a great throw back sound that has been executed oh so well. With old-school sounds flooding each genre it certainly can get tiresome, but there is something that is different about this release. Even though Fallen Nation has taken the beaten path and the tried and true approach to thrash, it just works as the overall sound that they provide you with is something that is enjoyable and not just mundane.

Overall, this self titled record is a good one. It gets you up and head banging until your neck breaks, it is energizing, entertaining, memorable and an overall solid listen to just sit and thrash out to. Well done Fallen Nation.

From the very first hint of rapid fire drumming and purely filthy and flesh shredding riffs, Engulf and their EP Subsumed Atrocities grabs you right by the fucking throat. I’ll get the only gripe I have about this release out of the way before we go any further. The only issue that I have with this release is that it isn’t nearly long enough, that’s it. Since it is an EP, it isn’t meant to be a devastating trek through mountains of corpses, but after listening to the only two tracks on this release, you want more and want it immediately. Now that that is out of the way, Subsumed Atrocities is a great release. With only two tracks on it you are mauled within an inch of your life as you become under siege from unrelenting and purely savage death metal.

Engulf shoots right out of the gate never giving you a moment to prepare yourself for the deadly metallic onslaught that is about to commence. From note one on you are subject to a blasting, life expunging and face peeling listen that you just can’t help but to put on repeat. Subsumed Atrocities is a nasty and ruthless release that provides you with some grim, dark and incredibly brutal death metal that gets seared in to your brain whether you want it to or not.

The opening of Subsumed Atrocities begins with a track titled Aeons Of Hate that starts you out with incredibly savage blasting drums and bone picking riffs which immediately hook you and draw you in to this release. Subsumed Atrocities is such a wonderfully dark and incredibly intense listen just within two tracks that you almost have no other choice but to play it over and over again. In just two tracks, Subsumed Atrocities carries more weight than most other full length records. This is the type of release that just gets right under your skin and lodges itself deep within your brain making it for an unforgettable, highly memorable listen.

This is just the first EP of a series of three and then finally a full length, and if the others are just as good as this, we are all in for a real deadly treat. As mentioned above, two songs just isn’t enough and at the end of this release you are left with a feeling of want, wanting more death metal to subdue your fix and appetite for death. We know that we will be getting more Engulf in the future, but for now we are left with this insanely well crafted EP to tide us over before you consume more of what Engulf has to offer. All in all, Subsumed Atrocities is an excellent release, one that should not be passed up.

Subsumed Atrocities is out right now and you can find it right on Engulf’sBandcamp!

Every now and then you get lucky and stumble upon an absolute gem, and that is exactly what we have here with Awakening the Impvre by Mandragora Malevola. Awakening the Impvre is a greatly captivating, heavy, atmospheric and immersive record that once you begin listening you have no other choice but to continue on listening until the end and then listening all over again. Right from the foreboding and atmospheric intro you become hooked and want to hear the entire record out. Immediately Mandragora Malevola grabs your unwavering attention and holds you as their audience for the entirety of the record.

The mixture of black and death metal on this record is clear. The combination of the two genres provides you with a maelstrom of blackened death that you don’t want to cower from but embrace. While there are parts of this record that are completely blasting and unrelenting, Mandragora Malevola balance that with plenty of melody as well providing you with a great ebb and flow of sounds and tempo changes. Never once does Mandragora Malevola lurch from their more blasting tempos to their slower more serene tempos as each track is crafted seamlessly and executed so well.

Every track on this release is so smooth and performed so well that when Mandragora Malevola does change tempo it doesn’t snap your spine in half. Instead they ease in to tempo changes providing you with a diverse listen that is never chaotic and is instead very smooth and easy to listen to. On top of all of the tempo changes, the blasting and the more melodic slower tempos is the atmosphere that Mandragora Malevola provides. The way in which these guys provide this ever shifting and swirling atmosphere is by incorporating keyboards and acoustic moments all throughout this release.

The atmosphere that Mandragora Malevola produces all throughout is incredibly hypnotic and captivating. Not only does the sharpened blackened death metal pull you in to this record, but the atmosphere does more so. Through track after track you become shrouded in a thick, mesmerizing atmosphere from which you cannot see your way out of. The interplay between the atmospheric qualities of each track and the harsh blasting of metallic fury works so well together. They feed off of each other so well only to provide you with an entirely cohesive and compelling listen that just makes you want to listen more and more.

Awakening the Impvre is a very well done record, and for it being the debut full length release it makes it just that much more impressive. This is a well crafted record from start to finish as it is a smooth release in which each of the eleven tracks flow well together, you are provided with plenty of harrowing atmosphere, well executed instrumentation and savage shrieking vocals to top everything off. As mentioned above, this is a gem of a record, and it certainly should not be passed up on.

Forming in 2013, The King Is Blind has been consistently putting out content nearly year after year. After a demo in 2013 and 2014, they released an EP titled The Deficiencies of Man only to follow that up with their debut full length Our Father in 2016. Now more than a year later, The King Is Blind has released their sophomore full length We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer. With such a harsh title, one can expect that the music will be exactly the same, harsh, cruel and punishing and that is exactly what you get within this brand new nine track release.

We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer is a grim and unrelenting death metal release that employs the use of thrash and even some elements of doom to create an even more chaotic and spine bending sound. The King Is Blind shoots right out of the gate right after the lead vocalist whispers to you that we are in fact the parasite and the cancer. From here on in The King Is Blind doesn’t look back as they lay waste to all parasites and useless vermin. From track to track you are sure to get an ear full of shredding and uncompromising death metal that does exactly what it should do, and that is smash your face until you are barely recognizable.

There aren’t too many “relaxing” moments on this record as The King Is Blind blasts and chips away at your skull only to expose your rotted brain. From track one until track nine you are provided with violent, grim and gritty metal that you are sure to revel in and bang your head to. We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer is an undeniably infectious release that gets right under your skin and makes a home there for some time to come. We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer as a whole is an entirely entertaining release that has all of the capability to make you lose it and thrash about like the pure maniac that you truly are.

Through flesh ripping riffs, blasting drums, ever prominent bass lines and rabid vocals, The King Is Blind gifts you one barbaric and unfiltered listen. We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer is a tightly knit and well performed record through and through. This release doesn’t leave you feeling as though there should be more to it as The King Is Blind packs so much in to this record that you leave the listen feeling satisfied as to what you just listened to.

We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer is a complete barn-and cross-burning record that is unrelenting and unwavering. Each track is just as solid as the one that came before it ultimately providing you with an entirely entertaining and blood boiling listen.

We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer is out now!

The King Is Blind Bandcamp: https://thekingisblind.bandcamp.com/album/we-are-the-parasite-we-are-the-cancer

Two years have passed since Corpse Garden’s second full length release Entheogen, and now these death merchants are on the verge of releasing yet another soul mangling release titled IAO 269. This is the third full length from these Costa Rica natives, and within this release you will find nine more tracks of experimental, bludgeoning and captivating death metal tracks that keep you coming back for more and more death metal punishment.

Corpse Garden twists the modern death metal sound to create a unique sound all their own. Their unique, gnarled and ever twisting sound is what ultimately captivates you, drawing you in to the record more and more with each passing second. Corpse Garden does a great job of mixing their experimental metal influences with their death metal influences to create an ever shifting yet almost hypnotic sound. You can never expect to hear the same sounds more than once, and throughout each track you get thrown for loop after loop.

It goes without saying that Corpse Garden plays an unconventional brand of death metal, and that certainly is a huge draw. There isn’t a track among the nine that appear on IAO 269 that seems to follow any sort of formula which seems to allow each track to breath and take on a form and sound all its own. Each track morphs and shape shifts in to something that you may not have quite expected providing you with the element of the unknown and that just by itself is what draws you in and makes you want to keep listening.

Even though this release is upwards of fifty minutes in length, it never over stays its welcome and it certainly flies by before you even realize it. IAO 269 is a seamless and flowing record that holds your attention all throughout and before you know it you have listened all the way through more than a handful of times. Longer records always seem to be and tend to be more challenging to listen to, but for IAO 269 that certainly is not the case.

The intriguing, unique and overall captivating sound of Corpse Garden holds you in a mesmerizing trance for the entirety of the record. This definitely is a stand out death metal record for this year and it is no wonder why Corpse Garden has amassed quite the following over the years. Their brand of unorthodox death metal is a breath of fresh yet putrid air that provides you with something that is exciting, extremely unique as well as something that you just can’t stop listening to. IAO 269 simply put is a great death metal record.

IAO 269 will be out November 20, 2017 through Godz Ov War Productions.

Iceland has an ever growing presence within the black metal genre and helping grow and make that presence felt is Almyrkvi with their debut full length Umbra. This record is a twisting cosmic release that provides you with suffocating atmospheres and ever changing soundscapes to present you with a cold, dark and mesmerizing listen. Six songs is what you will find within this release, and through each track you are presented with damning, bleak and at times haunting black metal that does a great job of getting right underneath your skin.

Umbra is a completely cohesive listen as each track seems to melt right in to the next without so much as skipping a beat. Almyrkvi never gifts you a break from their never ending onslaught of twisted cosmic black metal as they jump from the end of one track right in to the beginning of the next.

Each of the six tracks on this record are utterly devoid of all light and the more that you listen the further that you get dragged in to the empty void of space. Once you begin listening you become immediately shrouded in an atmosphere of cosmic misery and gloom from which you will never find solace. The atmosphere that Almyrkvi provides within this record is nightmarish. Throughout each song you are greeted with unsettling choir-esque singing that pairs up perfectly with the rest of the odd screeching and twisting sounds that are added in to create such a massively perilous atmosphere. Umbra as a whole is a melancholic and stunningly bleak listen, but even with that being said, it is mesmerizing all the same.

Almyrkvi does a great job of pulling you in to this release and having you stay all throughout its run time. Almyrkvi provides you with compelling tracks that are just as punishing as they are hypnotizing. Barreling drums are paired with soul lacerating riffs and demonic blood thirsty vocals all while a harrowing and bone splintering atmosphere plays on your fears. Almyrkvi couples their atmospheric elements with their unrelenting black metal assault very well to create a comprehensive and completely damning listen.

Through and through Umbra impresses. This release is massive and completely soul consuming. Once you begin listening you can’t escape the twisted and frigid tunes of Almyrkvi. Umbra is a haunting and devilish record that grabs your attention immediately never to let it go until the final track has concluded. For a debut full length, this record certainly is impressive and is sure to leave its mark in the black metal genre. With its abyssal cosmic atmospheres and its aggressive metallic pummelings, Umbra is a great listen, one that you don’t mind leaving on repeat for the foreseeable future.

Coining themselves as “old-school satanic death metal” is Sodomic Baptism, and while that certainly does hold true, these heathens add some new age death metal twists to their sound as well to create an unholy inferno of nothing but death and despair. Black Fire Pandemonium is the title of Sodomic Baptism’s newest release and within it you will find eight tracks of skin blistering, blood letting and frenzied death metal. While this release certainly is a blasting death metal beast, Sodomic Baptism adds some atmospheric elements as well to really drive home the overtly satanic and blasphemous sound.

Among the demolishing death metal, Sodomic Baptism incorporates keyboards in to their sound as well to provide you with an even more sinister and atmospheric sound. Throughout the majority of the tracks on this release you can hear the keyboards working their devilish black magic. This element is worked in seamlessly among the wall of chaotic death as it gifts you with more diversity as well as an undeniably perverse atmosphere. The added keyboard element pushes each track to new sordid heights and really invites you in to the story of the Unholy Trinity that Sodomic Baptism is telling.

Paired with the soul reaping atmosphere is of course the bone bashing and skull sheering death metal. From note one on Sodomic Baptism does an excellent job of pummeling you straight to hell. The only real reprieve that you get is when track five appears which is just a lead in to the sixth song that is a blasting fiend all on its own. For forty seconds you get some sort of breather before Sodomic Baptism does their best to suck the life out of you once again. From start to finish this release is one chaotic dive straight to the very bowels of hell where you are only to be greeted by more profane tunes from these hell spawns.

Black Fire Pandemonium is an uncompromising onslaught as you become under siege by machine gun fire drums, murky and murderous riffs and prominent lacerating bass lines. Forcing their way through the utter wall of deadly madness are the vocals that are blood thirsty and entirely demonic. From the vocals to the guitar work to the drumming and beyond, Black Fire Pandemonium is a solid and nasty release.

Once you press play, “Black Fire Pandemonium” rears its ugly head and provides you with detrimental death metal that is sure to break some necks. While this release isn’t entirely ground breaking or revolutionary, it is a solid and well performed release none the less. If you are looking for some satanic death metal worship, Black Fire Pandemonium will be the record for you, and if you are just looking for some really solid head bang worthy death metal, this is also the record for you.